BY DAN

The Canberra Raiders are reportedly interested in Keaon Koloamatagi, according to the Sydney Morning Herald and never has there ever been a more perfect example of the Raider Raise.

Let’s all pause and have a deep breath. How good would it be to get Koloamatangi? It would be astounding, but there’s just very little to suggest he’ll actually leave Souths. The paper argues that with David Fifita joining, and both Campbulance Graham and Jai Arrow off contract, that the Bunnies won’t be able to pay him big money. Which might be true, but doesn’t explain why Souths would let their best forward go to keep two less important players. Still, have at it I guess.

Having said that, it’s November, and if you can’t engage in some good old-fashioned speculatory hope then what is even the point of the pre-pre season? Koloamatangi is an excellent back-rower who can also be a dominant middle. He’s played Origin, for Australia and ten tests for Tonga. Last season, flipping between the edge and the middle for a Souths team that couldn’t get out of its own way, he was easily the Bunnies best forward, averaging 150 plus metres a game, and nearly three tackle breaks. He can cover big minutes (he played 80 minutes a game both on the edge and in the middle more often than not). He is a damaging line runner, near-impossible to tackle close to the line, and he even has an offload.

So obviously he’s very good. And the reporting  seems to be clear that Canberra has expressed an interest. It would be a great get for Canberra, even if it is an odd fit given the Milk’s strength at his best positions. We’ve hit this before: the Raiders are packed with depth across the pack, and are hitting it out of the park turning talent into permanence. They already have too many backrowers, who are younger, cheaper, and very good. Spending $800-900k (thumb in the air guess) to circumvent the very advantage they have built by developing a host of low-cost excellence would be extremely odd. But hey, certainty can do things to a man and I ’d be just as excited to get Koloamatangi as the next man.

But even on a ‘take it where you can get it’ approach, it feels unlikely. Every time Koloamatangi hits the market he’s linked to clubs across the league, including the Raiders in 2023. A week ago there were eight contenders for his signature. This latest reporting includes Canberra, but also Parramatta, St George, and will just expand if the Bunnies can’t get their budget to read ‘800k for Keaon’. What’s the price that gets him in green? Does that equal the players coming off Canberra’s cap next year? It’d be a stretch. 

This feels more like a prototypical ‘Raider Raise’, an attempt to make sure that the Bunnies don’t mistake his loyalty for a willingness to be underpaid. He’s been theoretically a free agent for twelve days, and you can almost hear the footsteps of negotiating dancing coming out of Redfern. The Raiders are on the list because they’d love him, but also because they are a plausible landing spot, someone willing to play a full Canberra tax that makes the Sydney based teams have to lift $650k to $750k, or something like that. 

So sorry to burst your bubble but I’m not a believer in this occurring. It seems almost certain that Keaon will sign a two or three year extension with Souths at some point in the coming weeks and this will just be a nice memory that reminds us David Fifita or Shaun Johnson or any other high profile player linked to the Milk. Or remember when Canberra were linked to Jerome Luai? Good times.

Another day another Raider Raise. This off-season has been a strange one. Hope springs eternal and all that. But I guess Canberra being used as a negotiating tool is more permanent.

All of our distribution pathways are closing down so sign up to the email below before we disappear from your feed altogether, or share this on social media. Or you can like the page on Facebook, follow me on Twitter. Don’t hesitate to send us feedback (dan@sportress.org) or comment below if you think we are stupid. Or if we’re not.